While the quake devastated communities across the country it has had an especially profound impact on marginalized communities such as the LGBTI. The UN Development Programme and partners have been working to ensure equal rights for LGBTI. Those programs have had some impact, but finding acceptance in Nepal’s relatively conservative society is still a challenge, and in the aftermath of the quake those challenges have been accentuated.

n the hours following the Nepal earthquake, Bharat Man Shrestha had little time to focus on his own fears. His parents in the village of Chautara, three hours from Kathmandu, were on the phone begging him to come home. Most of the houses in the village, including his parent’s home, had collapsed. One of his aunts was dead.

The UN, along with a host of development partners, and the Nepali government made an appeal today for financial aid to provide urgent relief for people affected by the earthquake that struck Nepal Saturday morning.

In the chaos of Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal, whose epicenter was in the rural Gorkha district, small Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) are believed to have played a pivotal role in responding to the disaster.

Mr. Haoliang Xu, UN Assistant Secretary General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for the Asia-Pacific concluded his three-day visit to Nepal urging the government leadership to quickly complete the transition process. He commended Nepal’s leaders for committing to graduate from the ranks of least developed countries by 2022, but said that strong political commitment accompanied by measurable actions was need to achieve the goals within next 8 years.